1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a printing system, particularly to a printing system for providing a service to print electronic image data that has been recorded in a recording medium such as a memory card, and also to a printing system suitable for making prints on the occasion of film processing.
2. Description of Related Art
Receiving an exposed photographic film from a customer and then providing a printing service at the same time as developing the film, has already been widely performed in this field of art. Moreover, a digital photographic print service is available, which accepts from a customer a memory card or another recording medium in which image data is recorded by using a digital camera and the like, and provides a recorded image to the customer as a print.
In such a print service, a salesperson at a counter receives a print order from the customer, and hands the produced prints to the customer in exchange for money. For this reason, it requires labor costs, and managing orders may cause problems. Considering such disadvantages, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10-134232 discloses a self-service system that automatically accepts printing order. As to a system to automate merchandise exchange, there is a disclosure in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 7-230494.
However, a self-service photo finishing reception system conventionally suggested has a disadvantage in that a customer must stay and perform predetermined operations at the system until printing of a large number of prints such as prints on the occasion of film processing completes, and another customer must wait for a long time until the present customer finishes his/her printing.